By: State Senator Glenn Grothman
June 25, 2008
Probably the most significant news out of Madison over the past month is the appointment of Biddy Martin as the new Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Usually I hear from alumni and parents of students who are concerned that the Madison campus does not have enough money to be an effective first-class university. It always seemed to me that a more important question is what they’re doing with their money. This choice seems to me to be a big mistake on several grounds.
First, it’s important the chancellor stop the left-wing drift at the University campus. I have heard complaints from parents of students at several campuses that they think the universities are spending too much time indoctrinating their children in left-wing values and not enough time preparing them for a job in the real world. I’ve heard of concerns that it would be difficult to be hired as a professor or get tenure as a professor in many departments if they do not toe the left-wing party line. Students are afraid in some classes their grade will be affected if they don’t agree with their professor’s views.
Biddy Martin’s academic background appears to be very left wing. She was previously a Women’s Studies professor at Cornell. Many of you reading this column probably have never heard of such a department. I talked to a graduate of Women’s Studies from the Madison campus. She felt this department was about indoctrination. It was very anti-man (above all anti-man) but also anti-Christian and anti-American. The idea was that men, Christianity, and America have been holding back women. Another girl who took one class there said they read lesbian novels. I don’t even think there should be a Women’s Studies department much less that the new chancellor should have been a professor in one. Biddy Martin’s most recent book is Feminity Played Straight: The Significance of Being Lesbian. It doesn’t sound as if she is going to consider the left-wing drift at Madison a problem.
A second criticism of the University is that not enough graduates are filling jobs for Wisconsin businesses. We need more engineers, nurses, and graduates from the hard sciences – not degrees in psychology and sociology. The Chancellor at the University of Iowa has a PhD in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology. The Chancellor from Michigan has a PhD in biochemistry. Illinois’ Chancellor was the Dean of Math, Computer and Physical Science at Maryland and Purdue’s Chancellor was an internationally-recognized astrophysicist at NASA. Biddy Martin has bounced back and forth between Women’s Studies and German Studies where she focused on Feminism in Germany. Where would you want your child to go to school? How will these credentials help your son or daughter secure necessary career skills?
How could this happen? The Chancellor was chosen by the Board of Regents who appointed a selection committee. One requirement for the new Chancellor was that they had to be in favor of Affirmative Action – the policy of giving preferences to Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and women. Well over half our state would be opposed to such preferences. This requirement essentially bans any conservatives or moderates from even being considered for the position.
The second problem is that members of the Board of Regents (who are appointed by the governor and approved by the State Senate) are not scrutinized. Too many state senators just vote yes for anybody and the press barely covers these important appointments. If they are not well-grounded in the first place, the University bureaucracy quickly sucks them into the left-wing mindset.
How are we to solve this problem? Most parents have to worry that their children will be victims of left-wing propaganda if they pay too much attention in our University system. The business community feels we have shortages of college graduates in technical areas.
First, we cannot require university chancellors to be pro-affirmative action. I will introduce legislation to address this problem.
Second, conservative and moderate legislators must scrutinize who is on the Board of Regents.
Third, and most importantly, the alumni and business community must wake up. It’s all fine and good to call your legislator and ask for more money at budget time. It’s much more important to focus on what’s happening with the money. Whether it’s at budget time or when the UW is looking for donations, make your opinion heard.